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8601 Wilshire Boulevard

8601 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California

RISE OF VERTICAL LIVING IN LOS ANGELES FOSTERS INTERIOR CREATIVITY

Introduction of blü in Beverly Hills Provides Interior Design Showcase for Luxury High-Rise Space; Noted Designer Steve Adams Offers Five Guiding Principles

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (December 17, 2007) – Los Angeles is growing up, and design tastes are changing to reflect this emerging vertical lifestyle. As a flurry of new apartment and condominium towers rise across Los Angeles, Southland interior designers are shifting focus to meet the unique demands of the high-rise urban living space - providing superior luxury and comfort, absent the traditional Southern California sprawl of the single-family home.

The introduction of blü, Beverly Hills’ only high-rise luxury residences available for lease, gave noted Los Angeles-based designer Steve Adams the perfect canvas to explore these new trends with the design of the building’s model residence, a showcase for its array of 37 upscale units.

“New York, Chicago, San Francisco. These cities have lived vertically for years,” said Adams. “The vertical lifestyle is still somewhat of a novelty in Los Angeles, and its growing popularity is changing the way Angelenos think about their living space. The most compelling theme of vertical design is to optimize cityscape views and daylight afforded by full height windows – the key advantage afforded by high-rise living.”

Based on his nearly three decades of interior design experience, Adams offered five guiding principles to consider when furnishing the vertical residential environment as he finalized his plans for the furnishing of the model residence at blü:

Lead the eye to the windows - Maximize natural light from the floor to ceiling windows; streamline furniture placement and design to focus on views and the subconscious expansion of space.

Less is More - Smart planning with attention to detail affords, clean modern space.

Select multifunction furniture - Focus on adaptability of use and flexibility of placement. Customized pieces provide efficiency and eliminate the clutter of redundancy.

Multi-purpose open space - Combine the living, dining and entertaining triage into a single space that depicts both current and future lifestyle trends.

Design theme - Modern, Retro, Traditional, Eclectic, Ethnic. No matter what theme drives the design, the mantra remains less clutter, more function and impact.

“At blü, we focused the model residence design on a modern, sleek format,” said Adams. “We installed a custom, multi-purpose cabinet piece that functions as streamlined media, display and storage center. The living space furnishings are comfortable, low rise, and do nothing to take away from the extraordinary views. The dining and lounge space flow together, creating a comfortable and engaging environment for dining, entertaining or relaxing.”

Adams also extended his vision of streamlined comfort and luxury to the shared building areas of blü, where he provided designs and/or furnishings for the building’s media room, stunning roof top terrace, hallways and dramatic entry lobby.

“In the vertical living environment, the common areas become an extension of every resident’s home,” noted Adams. “Design needs to be engaging, but at the same time simple, clean and comfortable. Our focus at blü for the shared spaces was to incorporate the elements of home design that would appeal to a resident seeking a luxury lifestyle.”

blü’s state-of-the-art media room is outfitted with a coffee bar, national newspapers, plasma TV, WiFi connectivity and conference call capabilities. Furniture is set in a modern design, comfortable yet still sleek. The room encourages daily use, from a morning coffee to client meeting to entertaining. Adams also incorporated original artwork, unique to each floor and in the lobby, curated from a roster of Southern California artists. For the roof top terrace patio, the intent was to create an upscale lounge environment, perfect for enjoying a relaxing sunset cocktail while taking in the 360-degree panoramic views.

The majority of original artwork was selected from the Art Museum Council at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art local artist collection, a rental and sales gallery featuring works from a dynamic roster of emerging Southern California-based artistic talents. Due to the LACMA program’s extensive collection, blü plans to periodically refresh the offering of eclectic pieces with rotating exhibits from various artists across multiple mediums.

blü is located at 8601 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills, just five blocks east of shopping on Robertson Boulevard, two blocks west of Restaurant Row on La Cienega and minutes away from Rodeo Drive and Beverly Center. Unfurnished residences begin at $4,200 a month. Deposits for residences at blü are being taken now, with move-ins scheduled to commence in February 2008. Robertson Boulevard features hip stores that appeal to fashionistas and window shoppers alike with Lisa Kline, Kitson, Curve and Agnes B. blü is also near celebrity-favorite restaurants, The Ivy and Newsroom. Other nearby dining favorites includes Spago and Cut in Beverly Hills and Matsuhisa, The Lodge Steakhouse and Simon L.A. on La Cienega´s Restaurant Row. To join blü’s interest list or take the virtual unit tour, please visit www.bluBeverlyHills.com.

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